Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello, I've recently built a new system and a small greenhouse for it. I just wanted to build something with my own hands, experiment, get knowledge about aquaponics and possibly promote the idea in Russia.


The setup is a little different now, there are 2 hoses and a part to divide streams at the beginning of the hose close to the pump, the water is poured not from the end of the hoses but through little drilled holes all around the grow bed.


There are 2x700L tanks placed below the ground and 2x350L growbeds, so I'm using only one tank and the other one is there for different purposes, you can read below how useful it appeared to be)

Thanks to the help of a very experienced man from Australia who knows who he is, I've got the basics and some very valuable advice. So I was sure I would not make stupid mistakes.

Oh how I was wrong. I had 10 little fish (mirror carp) in my fish tank and 2 grow beds functioning and nothing happened for several days. Now I know it was good. However I didn't see the any signs of plant growth (yet they didn't die either). So I became very impatient and thought there is not enough fish to feed the plants.

So I got 20 more. I was very upset when I found 18 of them dead in 2 days (I did feed them). How could I kill them forgetting everything I was told?! After taking pure fish out I immediately changed the water into the tank, working hard for several hours (had to catch the remaining fish).

A week has passed, the remaining 12 fish are still alive. My main problem now is that I have yet to receive the water testing pack to check ammonia and nitrates (it is rather hard to get one here) so I act blindly judging by the colour of water and pH. So I've noticed that pH is very high again (it's 8-8.2), the water is yellowish-brown and smells bad. Thinking that ammonia is still high and the plants cannot filter the water effectively enough yet, I've moved the fish into a clean tank (which I'm not using yet) to save them from death as I was very afraid to kill those pure creatures again. So now I am waiting to see what happens with the water where they lived before which is circulating through the grow beds. I thought the pH level would decrease, but it remains around 8-8.2 for 2 days since then, the water looks a little more clear though, but it's still yellowish-brown. Meanwhile the plants grow and I've picked some cherry tomatoes.

Hopefully I will get the pack by the end of the week but until then what would you recommend to do?

Hello from North Carolina.

Do you have air compressor to put a lot of oxygen into the fish tank? There is never too much air!
I assume you do not have anough aeration for the fish.

Also, salt your fish tank's water. In your case, I recommend adding at least 3 cups of sea salt to begin with.

Some information about salt in Aquaponics here:
http://www.aquaponics.net.au/aqua1/inde ... &Itemid=58

It takes about 5 to 8 weeks for the system to cycle. How long has it been in your case?

Hi and welcome, please do not use air from a normal air compressor unless you have an efficient oil trap / filter on it. Last thing you need is a layer of compressor oil over your fish tank water.

Try to get a proper air pump and stones if possible and keep the water pumping throught the fish tank to introduce more air.

If your water smells bad Change another 50%, and when you do get your test kid test your water supply as well.

+1 for air and salt.

There is a good chance your amm and nitri are at toxic levels with high PH.

Id keep up with 50% water changes once a week, remembering to re-salt.

Not sure if your tap water there is cholrinated so if it is you need to off-gass the chlourine for 24 hours before doing big water changes or if you can use rain water.

My system has been working for 2 weeks.

I have a good Oase aerator, the one like this http://store.oase-usa.com/OASE-AquaOxy- ... B001OE38FK which pumps air consistently (the tubes are on the bottom, kept there with stones) so air is not a problem.

Good to know about the salt. I'll try the salt solution and will change 50% of water.

My water source is my own water well, so it's pretty much ground water. I'm collecting rain water as well but there haven't been much rain lately.

Test the well water just to be certain.